Rotherham United and Doncaster Rovers to be left in limbo until June 8

League One's inability to agree the next course of action is holding up matters, and will leave Rotherham United and Doncaster Rovers with little time to prepare if it is decided to play on.

Football League chairman Rick Parry told a House of Commons select committee earlier this month that July 31 was the last possible date to play 2019-20 fixtures before contractual and other issues make it impossible.

Championship clubs all have nine matches to play, plus the play-offs the League are still anxious to see played, and League One clubs have six to eight matches left.

Championship clubs including Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough, Hull City and Barnsley returned to training this week, and collectively Championship clubs have only recorded five positive results from 2,044 coronavirus tests on players and staff.

Leeds are top of the table seven points clear of the play-off places. Barnsley are bottom, seven points behind Hull, who will be involved in a relegation battle with Huddersfield and Middlesbrough if the season resumes.

League Two clubs unanimously decided it made no sense to continue playing behind closed doors, and the June 8 meeting should just rubber-stamp that.

Bradford City have released all the players whose contract were due to expire this summer with the exception of Richard O'Donnell – who they are still in talks with – and Clayton Donaldson and Zeli Ismail, as well as sending back their loanees.But League One clubs have been unable to reach a consensus, with an extremely tight promotion picture confusing matters. In the uncertainty, they have not started coronavirus tests, something Football League clubs have to pay for themselves, and have therefore been unable to return to group training.

Doncaster are one of the clubs who have furloughed players, and they cannot return to training until they come off it.

With only three points separating second-placed Rotherham from eighth-placed Wycombe Wanderers and different numbers of game played, some clubs have argued for an extended play-offs, while Tranmere Rovers, three points from safety but with a game in hand on Wimbledon, have argued for a more sophisticated method for deciding the final table than the simple points-per-game formula the league favours.

Clubs have been asked to agree to the regulation changes which would allow the League to settle the tables their preferred way in the event of an abandonment on June 8. Clubs have until 2pm on Wednesday to suggest alternatives.What is clear is that clubs will have to choose – on a division-by-division basis – between playing on or the final table being decided on a points-per-game basis with promotion and relegation.

On Thursday the Premier League announced it will resume on June 17, with the FA Cup resuming at the end of the month.

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